Red campion
Scientific name: Silene dioica (L.) Clairv.
Family: Caryophyllaceae
MORPHOLOGY
Growth habit and size: Perennial herbaceous plant, uniformly hairy, 20-80 cm tall.
Stem: Ascending, branched stems.
Leaves: Lower leaves with petioles, spatulate with elliptic blades; upper leaves smaller, sessile, ovate-lanceolate, opposite, all hairy with entire margins.
Flowers: The flowers are dioecious, ranging from pink to fuchsia, but also white, with 5 deeply bilobed petals, a brownish and hairy calyx, tubular and swollen (more swollen in female flowers, more tapered in male ones), with acute teeth. It blooms from May to August.
Fruits and seeds: The fruits are ovoid capsules measuring 10-14 x 8-12 mm, dehiscent with 10 recurved teeth, containing many densely tuberculate seeds with a convex front and back.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
It grows throughout Italy except the major islands and in Calabria, from 0 m to 2,300 m. It is common in fertilized meadows, and prefers humid environments.
USE
In Carnia, the plant is used in the preparation of a traditional dish: “Tortei di voreles di lieur e scuete” – ravioli of “hare’s ears” (Silene dioica) with ricotta. Boiling the root can produce a soap substitute.
Photos: Kindly provided by Claudio Farinati
